Monday, 8 February 2016

Spanish News for the English (8)

The 'Spanish News for
the English' 2016 is a sometimes tongue in cheek service, in support
of European Multiculturalism for English Pensionistas (pensioners)
Pensionistas who are considering a different type of winter break.
This time as an alternative to the more usual break of an ankle, leg
or arm due to the inclement UK weather.

Today its a tale of woe
and a reminder to keep your wits about you.

We met up with another
couple of Brits who like us are travelling south through France and
Spain. The driver regaled me with a story that should be a heads up
for others thinking of travelling by motor home through France and
Spain. Like us he prefers travelling on the Autopista (Motorway) to
munch the miles. For us having the motor home set on cruise control
to match the speeds (58mph) of the commercial vehicles, makes for a
easy and much more relaxing day of driving. But I digress.

Our motor home
acquaintance had checked the route map and noted that there was a
section of good coastal road to the south of Barcelona. Which was
only passing through a few smaller towns along the way. A road which
would allow him to come off the Autopista early (Save a few Euro's in
tolls) and to drive through to their overnight destination and also
shortening the journey by a few miles. He was stood at some traffic
lights in one of the small towns when there was a knock on the side
of the vehicle. There were a couple of men stood alongside their
vehicle. One of the men said in broken English that the motor home
had a flat tyre. (the UK number plates are a give away)

He got out of the
vehicle, closely followed by his wife. He went to the near side,
which is away from the UK vans side door. Sure enough he had a flat
tyre,. The two men seemed to be of eastern European origin as they
did not speak much if any Spanish. One of the men engaged them both
in conversation. Explaining in broken English that there was a tyre
repair centre behind the row of building where they were now parked.
On returning to the vehicle they noticed that the cab door was open.
His wife discovered that her bag was missing along with an amount of
money and a number of important documents. It looked like an
opportunist thief had been in the van and helped themselves.

They limped the van off
the main road round the corner to the tyre centre. At the repair
centre the tyre fitter informed them that the tyre had actually been
stabbed through the side wall. Then the penny tumbled, they had been
stood in traffic for only a few moments when the 'Flat Tyre'
occurred. They then realised that they had been set up and robbed by
being distracted by the 'helpful people'. They were feeling a little
bit foolish that in a moment, they had been taken in.

We have heard similar
stories in the past about other travellers being accosted in various
ways This started me thinking about what we can do to make our
journey a bit safer. Often when such stories are retold. Mobile homes
are travelling or parked up on their own. There is an old saying
about their being safety in numbers. Often we see other motor homes
heading in the same general direction as ourselves. Now we tend to
create a small convoy by tacking on behind. We sometimes meet up with
others owners who have stopped for comfort breaks. We always tend to
park close to their vehicle. This also gives the impression that the
vehicles are in convoy.

Now we have changed our
habits even further. We have hidden documents and money in separate
places inside the vehicle. When we are driving through towns and
coming up to any traffic lights which are at red. I slow down early
and creep forward in the hope that the light will change before we
arrive. We now only drive with all the vehicle doors locked. If I
need to get out for any reason, I lock up the vehicle and take the
keys with me every time. Even if its only to pay for fuel in a
garage.

This is currently our
third trip driving through France and Spain. A few days ago, we were
tooted at by a vehicle on the Autopista. The first job is to note
the registration number of the other vehicle. You could also take a
picture on your mobile phone. We have a forward and rearward video
camera which start recording our journey whenever the ignition comes
on. We also have a small note book which is kept in the glove
compartment. Where we note down things, like amounts of fuel
purchased or reg numbers of any odd behaviour by other vehicles.

The passenger in the
passing vehicle was indicating that something was wrong at the back.
(We carry a couple of cycles on a bike rack at the rear) A
quick check through the back and we could see that the cover had come
loose at one side and was flapping about. We gave the thumbs up to
the passenger, but only slowed our vehicle down. We kept moving, to
give the vehicle chance to leave us behind. I checked the mirrors for
any other following vehicles. When we were sure that there was no one
following behind. We pulled over onto one of the emergency stopping
points where there is an emergency phone available. Where I was able
to secure the cover in a few moments. Only one of us went out – the
other secured the vehicle from the inside.

Caveat:
Due to language difficulties and the unavailability of translation
services. There may be one or two small inaccuracies in the news
provided.

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The Motley Crew

Mike described as 'Jack Dee in deck shoes' and a grumpy old curmudgeon who hates to see our wildlife and countryside destroyed. Maggie - a strong willed and fiesty biker. Poppy and Abbey - two strong willed and even more fiesty Wire Haired Fox Terriers.